Everyone can remember that one teacher who made a direct impact on their education. No matter the grade or age, they stay with you in your heart as you grow; that’s what Ed Evans, a former NSU faculty member and athletic trainer, was to his students and athletes.
Evans’ impact was so monumental to students and colleagues alike that after he died in September 2024, the Edward C. Evans Health and Human Performance Scholarship was established in his honor. The intention is to help students in Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s kinesiology program, the program in which he worked.
Although the name of the program was changed from the Department of Health and Human Performance to the Department of Kinesiology on Dec. 10, 2025, the integrity and message preserved by the scholarship remain.
Though the scholarship was created nearly two years ago, it has not yet reached the funding required to be awarded.
According to Haley Blount, assistant professor of health and human performance, “It takes $10,000 to simply have the scholarship become an official endowed fund and named to a specific department.” Further complicating matters, Blount explained that to begin distributing the scholarship, the endowment must reach $20,000.
However, beyond financial assistance, the scholarship memorializes Evans’ contributions to NSU. Additionally, the scholarship sheds light on what future funding can do to aid the next generation of students in the kinesiology program.
The NSU Hall of Fame published a memorial piece for Evans with testimonies from former students and colleagues relaying the diverse impacts Evans had on their lives. Gregory Burke, a colleague of Evans and the former assistant athletic director at NSU, is one of these individuals.
“Put succinctly, Ed was a steadfast and ardent advocate for the student-athlete … nothing superseded that mindset,” Burke said. “Ed was also a respected mentor to many young staff members who utilized the knowledge and experience gained while working with him as springboards to successful careers from coast to coast.”
The impacts of this mentorship and commitment remain within the halls of the department, and Evans’ legacy lives on in both the success of his former students and the tenacity of current students pursuing degrees in the department. For nearly two decades, Evans taught students to inspire and aid those under them and around them, teachings that will flourish to an even greater degree with the distribution of this scholarship.
If fully funded, the Edward C. Evans Health and Human Performance Scholarship would benefit undergraduate students majoring in health and physical education (grades K-12), health and exercise science and sports and recreation management.
Blount emphasized that the department currently lacks a scholarship geared toward students pursuing a pre-athletic training concentration.
“Our goal is to utilize the scholarship to recruit high school students to attend NSU for that degree program,” Blount said.
Additionally, Tara Tietjen-Smith, department head of the School of Kinesiology, reported that, “Since I began in this role almost five years ago, one of my major goals has been to increase the number of scholarships in our department,” she said. “At the time, we had three scholarships, and we now have six. The Ed Evans Scholarship, specifically, addresses a need of our pre-athletic training students that was not met.”
Currently, it isn’t clear if the scholarship will be exclusive to students of that major, or if any degree path falling under the kinesiology department will have the chance to qualify. However, when the scholarship reaches its endowment amount, more information should be revealed to the public and students who qualify.
According to Tietjen-Smith, the scholarship creates a partnership between kinesiology and athletics. “Recipients will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience working with athletes in the university training room,” she said.
Due to the difficulty in funding, there is no estimated timeline for when the scholarship will become available to aid students; however, the sooner the funds are raised, the sooner this scholarship can be offered to incoming students at NSU.
For information on how to contribute to the scholarship, please visit here. Additionally, for more information on how the scholarship will benefit health and human performance students, please visit here.
